Posted by In Abuja, a Federal High Court has rejected signing Form 48, which was filed against INEC and some of its top officials.
This was stated in a letter written by the Principal Registrar 1 Shehu Suleiman and signed by the Honorable Judge, Chamber, Justice E. Enenche.
Chief Uzewuru Nwachukwu vs. Kenneth Udeze, Action Alliance (AA), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Form 48 S.C.P.A. (ORDER IX, RULE 13) was the title of the letter, which was dated 8 August 2023 and had the case number FCT/HC/CV/174/2022.
“Notice of consequences for disobeying court order filed on the third day of August 2023 and signed on the seventh day of August 2023,” reads the letter.
“His Lordship has instructed me to advise your Authority that the aforementioned form was not authorized by or originated from this Court and was not signed by the registrar of this Court.
“And take note that no request, letter, or order pertaining to this suit with appeal No. Ca/AbJ/526/2022 shall be treated as authentic unless from the order of the court of appeal or otherwise by the registrar of this court,” the statement continued. (Following the judgment rendered by the court of appeal therein).”
According to 460play, the AA’s factional chairman Kenneth Udeze exhibited an allegedly signed court order and threatened to file a lawsuit against the INEC if the commission disobeyed the rulings.
He had claimed that in order to get Form 48 against INEC and its chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, he had gone to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
He also entered the FCT/HC/CV/174/2022 lawsuit alongside the INEC directors Mr. Aminu Idris, in charge of political party monitoring and liaison, and Dr. Tanimu Mohammed, in charge of litigation and prosecution.
The Form 48 Udeze possessed, which the FCT Court has denied signing, states, “Take notice that unless you obey the directions contained in this order, you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison for contempt of court.”
The National Think Thank Committee later dismissed Udeze from the party for a number of reasons after he had been suspended for claiming to be the national chairman of the Action Alliance (AA).
Dr. Adekunle Rufai Omoaje was recently acknowledged by INEC as the legitimate national chairperson of the Action Alliance.